Same here basically except I’m still on the ten year cycle until this round and then I go to 5.
There have actually been one or two, but I can’t be arsed (hah!) to look for them.
I’m a frequent flier - had my 7th this year. My words of wisdom are found here.
Yeah, the prep sucks. What variety did they prescribe? If it’s NuLytely or GoLytely (a full gallon) tell them THEY can drink it first - then demand a different one.
In my case, my first was just before my 51st birthday, an afterthought when I had a GI consult and the doc wanted to do an upper GI. The upper was fine, the lower… er, not so much (precancerous polyps).
I have never experienced any pain afterward (or during), nor any blood, though as others note, it could happen. And I’ve had some fairly substantial polyps removed: I tend to get the sessile (flat) ones, and one was 2 cm; that’s the one that got me 3 in one year because he couldn’t get clear margins the first time. I was vaguely aware that “something was going on” during one - not really aware of what “something” was though - then I was back out. I mentioned that later, and I think they may have given me a slightly higher dose of Milk of Amnesia (propofol) the next time.
The unpleasant parts:
- Excreting battery acid
- Getting the IV
- The propofol injection (stinks like a mofo briefly). Then the world tilts sideways and you wake up a second later, all done.
A colleague’s husband was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer - badly metastasized. She didn’t explicitly say, but I gather he had avoided the screening. A neighbor’s husband, much the same.
So GET IT DONE!!!
Bear in mind, current recommendations now are to start screening at age 45. For lower-risk people they’ll offer fecal occult blood testing or ColoGard, which is a reasonable option (not for me - as a higher-risk person I go straight to the Big Leagues).
Just drinking the nasty liquid was the hardest part of the prep. The procedure itself was nothing.
My problem is that I’m hypoglycemic, and when my blood sugar gets too low I get very ill and open at both ends. After the procedure, anything I consumed came right back up, so it took a few days to get my blood sugar back to normal.
For those of you who frequent the Giraffe board, you’ll know that we lost a beloved poster a couple of weeks ago to this preventable disease. So I second Mama Zappa’s plea. Get it done! And if you just can’t force yourself to do this, ask your doctor for Cologard. One way or the other, get it done.
I’ve had two, and your observations mirror mine exactly. Prep was nowhere near as bad as so many others told me it would be: I was pretty much “done” about an hour or so of drinking that Suprep stuff ( which does have an overly cloying taste IMO ).
As to the hunger, it had me grouchy as all get-out the evening before, but the funny thing is that the morning of the proceedure, and following the end of it around midday, not so much. I thought by then I’d be climbing the walls with hunger pangs when I left the place, but it wasn’t so at all. When I did eat something, it was more out of a sense that I need to eat just for nutrition’s sake than feeling famished.
At mine, they always give me something to eat right there - crackers and juice or whatever. I always say “I’m so hungry I could eat a small child” but somehow they never have any spare children running around 
I don’t frequent it: is it a poster who also posts here? If so, who is it?
It was Khampelf. I don’t know if he ever did much in the way of posting here.
We miss him every day.
I have to go in for my 3rd, and I haven’t scheduled it yet. New Year’s Resolution!
The prep tastes like a stale Marguerita, but once you get it down, the rest is easy. Take a book with you to the toilet and let the flow begin. You don’t even have to strain or force anything out.
In my experiences, it’s always weird when I’m being rolled to the operating room. I’ll remember seeing the clock on the wall. The surgeons usually have the radio on, and they have a machine that goes “beep.” I always think I’m awake and that they need to wait longer, but next thing I know, I’m back in the prep area. I’ll look at the clock and see that it’s 40 minutes later. Unlike sleeping, I have no sense that time has passed.
My first is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Should be a fun weekend! :rolleyes:
Had mine in Bangkok. The prep was in the morning, procedure in the afternoon. I found the horror stories all around to be greatly exaggerated.
I was put out for the procedure, but I’ve heard they don’t do that in the US. And here they also seem to make sure you have some sort of ride, whereas in Bangkok there was no concern in that regard. I could have hopped on a public bus. (I hailed a taxi.)
What do you do if you don’t have anyone to accompany you?
It’s typically done with something called twilight sedation. One effect is that you won’t be able to form new memories for some time, and that may carry into your time in the recovery room. You won’t realize that you’re not able to form memories. You will feel normal in the recovery room, but then later on in the day you’ll just have a hazy recollection of that time. It may feel like a dream. So if the professionals tell you anything you need to remember, tell them to write it down. If they just tell you something, there’s a good chance you won’t remember it later. You’ll still be able to recall your memories from before your procedure, but any new memories after that point may not exist.
After I went through that, I wished I had some way to know when my ability to form memories had returned. One thing I thought of later is to bring a notebook and do something like this: Whenever I wondered if my memory was back, I would first try to remember if I had already written in the notebook and what I had written. Then I would open the notebook to see if I was correct. I would write a new entry with the time and something about what was going on around me (like what’s on the TV) and put the notebook away. Once I could consistently remember what I had previously written in the notebook, then I’d be more assured that my memory was back.
If you’re into journaling, it might be interesting to write down your thoughts and feelings while in the recovery room so you can read them later. You are in a sort of dream-like state and your thoughts are a little different than normal.
I had a pretty horrible experience the first couple of times (in fact, really every time). I was violently sick after drinking no more than half the nasty crap they give you to drink (now I know I can drink it slower and mixed with Sprite). It was worse than having the flu and it happened pretty much all night long, even after I stopped drinking the stuff. Other than that, the procedure was not really anything big. They put me to sleep and I wake up and after a bit get dressed and head home to get something to eat.
I think my reaction was extreme though…I don’t think most folks get that sick from drinking the stuff they give you. You can drink it with other stuff, and I recommend, highly, that you do so. You will want to definitely be home once you start drinking the stuff and have a bathroom close at hand.
They won’t do the procedure.
An acquaintance who works in the medical industry told me that Cologuard is just as effective for detecting colon cancers as colonoscopies. She said colonoscopies have been oversold to the public. I ran that past my doctor, and he agreed, provided that any unusual result from the Cologuard test be followed by a colonoscopy. So that’s what I’ve been doing. No fasting, no diarrhea, no dehydration, no anesthetic, no pain.
Double post.
I vomited like crazy. Called the 24-hr. nurse line on my ins. card. She said slow down and suck a lifesaver or chew some gum between glasses of poo juice.
the best part is being asleep, totally. Why cant it be longer for the procedure and recovery? I like to fly, medically induced.
I’ve had the procedure every five years since my father died of colon cancer+
Once they start finding and zapping polyps, I get to go every few years or when they are in the mood
I was told that they want to do a full colonoscopy for your first one, and if nothing unusual was found, you can do Cologuard the next time, and thereafter, unless they detect something. Now, if there is some disagreement on using Cologuard for the initial procedure, then that would be up for discussion. Perhaps one of our local docs here could offer an opinion?